HP ProLiant MicroServer - a quick pictorial tour

In case anyone has missed it - version 1.3 of the firmware for the remote access (BMC/IPMI) cards has finally been released. It supposedly fixes the issue where the NIC becomes non responsive. When I reported this problem a long while back I told the HP people it seemed very much like a firmware bug yet they insisted it was a hardware fault.

Sweet, thanks for the heads-up.

(And thank you, HP support, for constantly sending me alerts about some SmartArray card I don't have, but not about the remote access card on which I filed a ticket for this particular issue... Sigh...)

Which OS are you running? The virtual media works for me on Fedora 64bit. I've installed the 32bit JVM as well as 64bit, and when clicking on "Launch VM Viewer" instead choose to open it by pointing it to bin/javaws in the 32bit installation, rather than than the default which is IcedTeaWebstart.

while that might work for you, its a broken situation at best. why are you/we/us forced to run a 32 bit app on a 64 OS, when clearly the capability to run in 64 bit exists for these particular functions. i am running fedora 17 and find it to be a bit cloodgy to have these issues, at this point in the game.

I'm merely telling you how to get it to work, if that is what you wish to do. It is hardly an arduous or taxing task. Besides, there would be no particular advantage in having a 64bit native library anyway.

If you look at the jnlp file you can see HP have only provided 32bit IO libraries for Windows and Linux. Think yourself lucky; if you're using a Mac no virtual media for you.

while that might work for you, its a broken situation at best. why are you/we/us forced to run a 32 bit app on a 64 OS, when clearly the capability to run in 64 bit exists for these particular functions. i am running fedora 17 and find it to be a bit cloodgy to have these issues, at this point in the game.

At least it's just the virtual media stuff. I have a super micro board where even KVM doesn't work with a 64-bit JVM.

I realize they're both low-end CPUs, but would I get a significant boost going to the MicroServer? Currently using the X310 as a Linux-based NAS and general purpose server.

Upgrading Pros:- Can plug in a monitor!- RAM can be expanded- USB-able O/S "drive" internal slot

Upgrading Cons:- I already have the X310- It currently works- Damned quiet

Thoughts?

According to the list here it looks like you'd see about double the performance (1349 vs 609). If performance really matters to you it might be worth the upgrade. If it were me I'd probably pick up a Microserver and use the X310 for backup purposes. I'm doing the same currently with an N40L-based Microserver (primary) and a Lenovo D400 (backup).

Hmm...G2020T isn't available as an embedded chip, which means the new Microserver might take a 35W i3...

Out of curiosity, are you thinking about replacing the G2020T (or G1610T, since there's no point in paying the extra ~$80 if you're going to replace the processor anyway) to get HT, or to get Quick Sync, or both? I'm somewhat surprised that HT would be a big enough win, even combined with the 12% clock speed boost, to justify a $125 processor upgrade given what most people use these machines for. If you use it for transcoding, though, Quick Sync should be a significant win.

Hmm...G2020T isn't available as an embedded chip, which means the new Microserver might take a 35W i3...

Out of curiosity, are you thinking about replacing the G2020T (or G1610T, since there's no point in paying the extra ~$80 if you're going to replace the processor anyway) to get HT, or to get Quick Sync, or both? I'm somewhat surprised that HT would be a big enough win, even combined with the 12% clock speed boost, to justify a $125 processor upgrade given what most people use these machines for. If you use it for transcoding, though, Quick Sync should be a significant win.

If someone was transcoding, wouldn't a GPU in the x16 slot be a better move?

I hadn't noticed that the new case is designed to be stackable, and that there are/will be stackable external modules that go with it (the pics above show the switch module on top, and the same website shows a diagram with two microservers stacked on top of the switch).

Hmm...G2020T isn't available as an embedded chip, which means the new Microserver might take a 35W i3...

Out of curiosity, are you thinking about replacing the G2020T (or G1610T, since there's no point in paying the extra ~$80 if you're going to replace the processor anyway) to get HT, or to get Quick Sync, or both? I'm somewhat surprised that HT would be a big enough win, even combined with the 12% clock speed boost, to justify a $125 processor upgrade given what most people use these machines for. If you use it for transcoding, though, Quick Sync should be a significant win.

Some of us have collections of PC bits from upgrades, failed projects, etc. I have an i3-3225 lying about with nowhere to go - it's 3.3GHz and it has HD4000. Faster CPU, better GPU with Quicksync. So, yeah, transcoding and all that.

Looks like an ideal machine to Handbrake DVDs, DVD drive is even supplied (and easily swapped for a BD-ROM).

Hmm...G2020T isn't available as an embedded chip, which means the new Microserver might take a 35W i3...

Out of curiosity, are you thinking about replacing the G2020T (or G1610T, since there's no point in paying the extra ~$80 if you're going to replace the processor anyway) to get HT, or to get Quick Sync, or both? I'm somewhat surprised that HT would be a big enough win, even combined with the 12% clock speed boost, to justify a $125 processor upgrade given what most people use these machines for. If you use it for transcoding, though, Quick Sync should be a significant win.

Some of us have collections of PC bits from upgrades, failed projects, etc. I have an i3-3225 lying about with nowhere to go - it's 3.3GHz and it has HD4000. Faster CPU, better GPU with Quicksync. So, yeah, transcoding and all that.

Ahh, if you already have it, why not? However, the i3-3225 is a 55W chip, only the T suffix i3s are 35W. It might throttle if you load it fully. Also, the Gen8 only has an analog (HD-15) video out, and it's connected to an embedded Matrox G200, so the onboard GPU is probably never used (and the BIOS might keep it disabled so you can't use Quick Sync, but that's just speculation).

If someone was transcoding, wouldn't a GPU in the x16 slot be a better move?

In theory, yes. In practice, the Microserver only has a 150W power supply, and it probably doesn't have a PCIe power connector. The older Microserver limited its x16 slot to 25W, so I imagine the new one does as well. The slot area isn't set up for much airflow, so between that and power you're talking about the absolute bottom of the market in terms of discrete cards, like the GeForce 605 or Radeon HD7450. I don't know if those are actually faster than Quick Sync, but the prior gen (HD6450) is significantly cheaper than a i3-3220T and gets you actual digital video connectors, so it's still probably better in practice.

Ahh, if you already have it, why not? However, the i3-3225 is a 55W chip, only the T suffix i3s are 35W. It might throttle if you load it fully. Also, the Gen8 only has an analog (HD-15) video out, and it's connected to an embedded Matrox G200, so the onboard GPU is probably never used (and the BIOS might keep it disabled so you can't use Quick Sync, but that's just speculation).

Seriously, the i3-3225 only has a listed 55W TDP. I've NEVER been able to get it close to that. According to the Asus EPU utility, the CPU never used more than 20W, and averaged around 10W. It runs WAY cooler than a 65W Pentium G620.

Running the G620 in my ThinITX machine would leave the case quite hot after two hours of watch a 1080p movie. With the i3-3225 the case was stone cold.

Heck, the i3-3225 boots in to Windows with no heatsink at all, just the bare chip. Try that on a Core2Duo or AMD.

Anybody have any information about the RAID controller in the new model? Specifically, what chipset, and does it support JBOD?

I don't believe it has one, actually. I think that the "Dynamic Smart Array B120i/ZM" is just HP's marketing speak for the SATA controller integrated into the PCH (which natively does RAID 0/1/10 to begin with, but also obviously does JBOD). The mounting point for a FBWC module is there for an optional real RAID controller that fits in the PCIe slot and is provided since the typical mounting method for that module won't fit in the Microserver. There's no actual connection point on the motherboard itself for the FBWC module.

I don't believe it has one, actually. I think that the "Dynamic Smart Array B120i/ZM" is just HP's marketing speak for the SATA controller integrated into the PCH (which natively does RAID 0/1/10 to begin with, but also obviously does JBOD). The mounting point for a FBWC module is there for an optional real RAID controller that fits in the PCIe slot and is provided since the typical mounting method for that module won't fit in the Microserver. There's no actual connection point on the motherboard itself for the FBWC module.

Dunno... This makes it sound like it is, in fact, a "RAID" controller (tho at least partially driver-based); specifically, the document explicitly lists various supported RAID levels, but not JBOD.

I don't believe it has one, actually. I think that the "Dynamic Smart Array B120i/ZM" is just HP's marketing speak for the SATA controller integrated into the PCH (which natively does RAID 0/1/10 to begin with, but also obviously does JBOD). The mounting point for a FBWC module is there for an optional real RAID controller that fits in the PCIe slot and is provided since the typical mounting method for that module won't fit in the Microserver. There's no actual connection point on the motherboard itself for the FBWC module.

Dunno... This makes it sound like it is, in fact, a "RAID" controller (tho at least partially driver-based); specifically, the document explicitly lists various supported RAID levels, but not JBOD.

I did see the B120i documentation before I posted above. There are several reasons why I think the Microserver Gen8 does not have a real RAID controller. First (and least convincing, I'll admit), the Microserver has a "B120i/ZM", not a "B120i". Second, board diagrams do not show a RAID controller, as there are only two large chips on the motherboard: the PCH and the ILO chip - a LSI controller has a pretty large physical package. The admittedly less than complete photos I've seen so far don't show a controller either, though I admit they aren't good enough to be 100% sure. Third, both the prior Microserver and the closest machine architecturally, the ML110 Gen7, do not have real RAID controllers. The specs for the ML110 Gen7 actually call the PCH SATA controller a "Smart Array B110i". Fourth, the driver package for the B320i and B120i references, among other devices, Lynx Point, Intel's code name for the 8x and C22x series PCH chips, and gives it the display name "HP Dynamic Smart Array B120i SATA RAID Controller". Unfortunately, it is quite possible that HP uses the B120i name for both the PCH SATA controller in the Microserver and a LSI controller in another model, though I think it's quite likely that HP's documentation on the B120i and B320i is ambiguous, and B120i always refers to the PCH SATA controller while B320i refers to an embedded LSI controller.

so i have a gen8 box that i am trying to build and i want to use the raid controller so that the 4 disks are in a logical array. the problem is that the drivers have to be downloaded and installed in the OS (fedora). how does one go about building the os on a raid array, that cannot be used until the drivers are installed in the OS, which cannot be installed because the raid array cannot be used? i think i am stuck in a bit of a catch22 because i want the OS on the raid array. what am i missing here?

so it looks like we are going to use an ssd in the optical drive bay, install centos and use the kernel module rpms that hp supplies. not what we wanted to do, but will get us where we need to be. its a shame hp had to fiddle with things and force the "this is for business only" crap, but i guess thats why i am not running the company.

Ugh. I might have finally found out why my Microserver sometimes gets stuck for no reason during IO. I saw a ATA command timeout on ada4, or the SSD cache/log SSD device on the optical disk drive port.

I guess there's a reason it's a ODD port only, the hacked BIOS enabled it alright, but working correctly it did not... Bleh.

Ugh. I might have finally found out why my Microserver sometimes gets stuck for no reason during IO. I saw a ATA command timeout on ada4, or the SSD cache/log SSD device on the optical disk drive port.

I guess there's a reason it's a ODD port only, the hacked BIOS enabled it alright, but working correctly it did not... Bleh.

I guess I could get one on the FreeBSD HCL, but it's just too much effort; the IBM M1015 is €170 here (even on ebay.nl! ) which is like 50% of the cost of the machine, and other cheaper options like RocketRAID, notnx; then there's the question if 4TB disks are supported; meh.

I was thinking about an upgrade anyway; this little guy has trouble serving smbd at line speed.